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History of United States prison systems | early settlement convict transportation prisoner trade prisoners prisons appeared north america simultaneous arrival european settlers.among ninety men sailed explorer known christopher columbus young black man abducted canary islands least four convicts.spanish soldiers st. augustine florida built first substantial prison north america.european nations began compete spain land wealth new world turned convicts fill crews ships.according social historian marie gottschalk convicts indispensable english settlement efforts united states.late sixteenth century richard hakluyt called largescale conscription criminals settle new world england. |
History of United States prison systems | official action haklyuts proposal lagged english crown escalated colonization efforts.sir john pophams colonial venture presentday maine stocked contemporary critic complained gaols jails england.virginia company corporate entity responsible settling jamestown authorized colonists seize native american children wherever could conversion ... knowledge worship true god redeemer christ jesus.colonists lived effect prisoners companys governor agents.men caught trying escape tortured death seamstresses erred sewing subject whipping.one richard barnes accused uttering base detracting words governor ordered disarmed arms broken tongue bored awl banished settlement entirely.when control virginia company passed sir edwin sandys efforts bring large numbers settlers new world gained traction alongside less coercive measures like indentured servitude. |
History of United States prison systems | vagrancy statutes began provide penal transportation american colonies alternative capital punishment period reign queen elizabeth i. time legal definition vagrancy greatly expanded.soon royal commissions endorsed notion felon—except convicted murder witchcraft burglary rape—could legally transported virginia west indies work plantation servant.sandys also proposed sending maids jamestown breeders whose costs passage could paid planters took wives.soon sixty women made passage virginia followed.king james royal administration also sent vagrant children new world servants.letter virginia companys records suggests many children sent virginia . |
History of United States prison systems | african prisoners brought jamestown sold slaves well marking englands entry atlantic slave trade.the infusion kidnapped children maids convicts africans virginia early part seventeenth century inaugurated pattern would continue nearly two centuries.majority british emigrants colonial north america went prisoners one sort another—whether indentured servants convict laborers slaves.the prisoner trade became moving force english colonial policy restoration—i.e.summer onward—according reverend morgan godwyn estimated almost persons spirited away americas annually english crown.parliament accelerated prisoner trade eighteenth century.englands bloody code large portion realms convicted criminal population faced death penalty.pardons common. |
History of United States prison systems | eighteenth century majority sentenced die english courts pardoned—often exchange voluntary transport colonies.parliament empowered english courts directly sentence offenders transportation transportation leading punishment serious crime great britain.twothirds sentenced sessions old bailey transported.list serious crimes warranting transportation continued expand throughout eighteenth century seventeenth.historian a. roger ekirch estimates many onequarter british emigrants colonial america convicts. |
History of United States prison systems | james oglethorpe settled colony georgia almost entirely convict settlers.the typical transported convict brought north american colonies board prison ship.upon arrival convicts keepers would bathe clothe extreme cases provide fresh wig preparation convict auction.newspapers advertised arrival convict cargo advance buyers would come appointed hour purchase convicts auction block.prisons played essential role convict trade.ancient prisons like fleet newgate still remained use high period american prisoner trade eighteenth century.typically old house medieval dungeon space private structure would act holding pen bound american plantations royal navy impressment. |
History of United States prison systems | operating clandestine prisons major port cities detainees whose transportation new world strictly legal became lucrative trade sides atlantic period.unlike contemporary prisons associated convict trade served custodial punitive function.many colonists british north america resented convict transportation.early pennsylvanias colonial legislature attempted bar felons introduced within borders.benjamin franklin called convict transportation insult contempt cruellest ever one people offered another.franklin suggested colonies send north americas rattlesnakes england set loose finest parks revenge. |
History of United States prison systems | transportation convicts englands north american colonies continued american revolution many officials england saw humane necessity light harshness penal code contemporary conditions english jails.dr. samuel johnson upon hearing british authorities might bow continuing agitation american colonies transportation reportedly told james boswell race convicts ought thankful anything allow short hangingwhen american revolution ended prisoner trade north america abrupt halt threw britains penal system disarray prisons jails quickly filled many convicts previously would moved colonies.conditions steadily worsened.crisis period english criminal justice system penal reformer john howard began work.howards comprehensive study british penal practice state prisons england wales first published —one year start revolution. |
History of United States prison systems | colonial criminal punishments jails workhouses jail built order plimouth massachusetts bay colony courts.used jail – one time moved attached constables home.old gaol added national register historic places .although jails early fixture colonial north american communities generally serve places incarceration form criminal punishment.instead main role colonial american jail nonpunitive detention facility pretrial presentence criminal defendants well imprisoned debtors.common penal sanctions day fines whipping communityoriented punishments like stocks.jails among earliest public structures built colonial british north america. |
History of United States prison systems | colonial charter massachusetts bay colony example granted shareholders behind venture right establish laws settlement contrarie lawes realm england administer lawfull correction violators massachusetts established house correction punishing criminals .colonial pennsylvania built two houses correction starting connecticut established one .eighteenth century every county north american colonies jail.colonial american jails ordinary mechanism correction criminal offenders according social historian david rothman.criminal incarceration penal sanction plainly second choice either supplement substitute traditional criminal punishments day words historian adam j. hirsch.eighteenthcentury criminal codes provided far wider range criminal punishments contemporary state federal criminal laws united states. |
History of United States prison systems | fines whippings stocks pillory public cage banishment capital punishment gallows penal servitude private homes—all punishments came imprisonment british colonial america.the common sentence colonial era fine whipping stocks another common punishment—so much colonies like virginia hastened build either courthouse jail.theocratic communities puritan massachusetts imposed faithbased punishments like admonition—a formal censure apology pronouncement criminal sentence generally reduced suspended performed front churchgoing community.sentences colonial american workhouse—when actually imposed defendants—rarely exceeded three months sometimes spanned single day.colonial jails served variety public functions penal imprisonment.civil imprisonment debt one colonial jails also served warehouses prisonersofwar political prisoners especially american revolution.also integral part transportation slavery systems—not warehouses convicts slaves put auction also means disciplining kinds servants.the colonial jails primary criminal law function pretrial presentence detention facility. |
History of United States prison systems | generally poorest despised defendants found way jails colonial north america since colonial judges rarely denied requests bail.penal function significance colonial jails served contempt—but coercive technique designed protect power courts penal sanction right.the colonial jail differed todays united states prisons purpose structure.many cage closet.colonial jailers ran institutions familial model resided apartment attached jail sometimes family own.colonial jails design resembled ordinary domestic residence inmates essentially rented bed paid jailer necessities.before close american revolution statutes regulations defined colonial jailers duty care responsibilities. |
History of United States prison systems | upkeep often haphazard escapes quite common.official efforts made maintain inmates health see basic needs.postrevolutionary penal reform beginnings united states prison systems first major prison reform movement united states came american revolution start nineteenth century.according historians adam j. hirsch david rothman reform period shaped less intellectual movements england general clamor action time population growth increasing social mobility prompted critical reappraisal revision penal corrective techniques.address changes postcolonial legislators reformers began stress need system hard labor replace ineffectual corporal traditional punishments. |
History of United States prison systems | ultimately early efforts yielded united states first penitentiary systems.the onset eighteenth century brought major demographic social change colonial eventually postcolonial american life.century marked rapid population growth throughout colonies—a result lower mortality rates increasing though small first rates immigration.aftermath revolutionary war trend persisted.population newly independent north american states greatly increased number density urban centers well.population massachusetts almost doubled period tripled pennsylvania increased fivefold new york. |
History of United States prison systems | american city fifty thousand residents however nearly people lived cities larger that.the population former british colonies also became increasingly mobile eighteenth century especially revolution.movement urban centers emerging territories fluid social ladder throughout century made difficult localism hierarchy structured american life seventeenth century retain former significance.revolution accelerated patterns dislocation transience leaving displaced families former soldiers struggling adapt strictures stunted postwar economy.emergence cities created kind community different prerevolutionary model.crowded streets emerging urban centers like philadelphia seemed contemporary observers dangerously blur class sex racial boundaries.demographic change eighteenth century coincided shifts configuration crime. |
History of United States prison systems | literary evidence variety sources—e.g.ministers newspapers judges—suggest property crime rates rose least perceived to.conviction rates appear risen last half eighteenth century rapidly afterward especially urban areas.contemporary accounts also suggest widespread transiency among former criminals.communities began think town something less sum inhabitants period notion distinct criminal class began materialize.philadelphia example city authorities worried proliferation taverns outskirts city sites alternative interracial lowerclass culture words one observer root vice. |
History of United States prison systems | boston higher urban crime rate led creation specialized urban court .the efficacy traditional communitybased punishments waned eighteenth century.penal servitude mainstay british colonial american criminal justice became nearly extinct seventeenth century time northern states beginning vermont began abolish slavery.fines bonds good behavior—one common criminal sentences colonial era—were nearly impossible enforce among transient poor.former american colonists expanded political loyalty beyond parochial new state governments promoting broader sense public welfare banishment warning also seemed inappropriate since merely passed criminals onto neighboring community.public shaming punishments like pillory always inherently unstable methods enforcing public order since depended large part participation accused public. |
History of United States prison systems | eighteenth century matured social distance criminal community became manifest mutual antipathy rather community compassion offender penitence became common public executions punishments.urban centers like philadelphia growing class racial tensions—especially wake revolution—led crowds actively sympathize accused executions public punishments.colonial governments began making efforts reform penal architecture excise many traditional punishments even revolution.massachusetts pennsylvania connecticut inaugurated efforts reconstitute penal systems years leading war make incarceration hard labor sole punishment crimes.although war interrupted efforts renewed afterward.climate change postrevolutionary politics words historian adam j. hirsch made colonial legislatures open legal change sorts revolution retooled constitutions criminal codes reflect separation england. |
History of United States prison systems | anglophobic politics day bolstered efforts away punishments inherited english legal practice.reformers united states also began discuss effect criminal punishment criminality postrevolutionary period least concluded barbarism colonialera punishments inherited english penal practice harm good.mild voice reason humanity wrote new york penal reformer thomas eddy reached thrones princes halls legislators.mother country stifled colonists benevolent instincts according eddy compelling emulate crude customs old world.result predominance archaic punitive laws served perpetuate crime.attorney william bradford made argument similar eddys treatise.by second decade nineteenth century every state except north carolina south carolina florida amended criminal code provide incarceration primarily hard labor primary punishment serious offenses. |
History of United States prison systems | provincial laws massachusetts began prescribe short terms workhouse deterrence throughout eighteenth century midcentury first statutes mandating longterm hard labor workhouse penal sanction appeared.new york bill restricted effect new york city authorized municipal officials substitute six months hard labor workhouse cases prior law mandated corporal punishment.additional bill expanded program entire state new york.pennsylvania established hard labor law .hardlabor programs expanded new jersey virginia kentucky vermont new hampshire maryland .this move toward imprisonment translate immediate break traditional forms punishment. |
History of United States prison systems | many new criminal provisions merely expanded discretion judges choose among various punishments including imprisonment.amendments massachusetts arson statute instance expanded available punishments setting fire nondwelling whipping hard labor imprisonment jail pillory whipping fining punishments combination.massachusetts judges wielded newfound discretion various ways twenty years fines incarceration death penalty became sole available sanctions states penal code.states—e.g.new york pennsylvania connecticut—also lagged shift toward incarceration.prison construction kept pace postrevolutionary legal change. |
History of United States prison systems | states revised criminal codes provide incarceration also constructed new state prisons.focus penal reformers postrevolutionary years remained largely external institutions built according david rothman.reformers day rothman claims fact imprisonment—not institutions internal routine effect offender—was primary concern.incarceration seemed humane traditional punishments like hanging whipping theoretically matched punishment specifically crime.would take another period reform jacksonian era state prison initiatives take shape actual justice institutions. |
History of United States prison systems | jacksonian antebellum era eleven thensixteen united states—i.e.pennsylvania new york new jersey massachusetts kentucky vermont maryland new hampshire georgia virginia—had place form penal incarceration.primary focus contemporary criminology remained legal system according historian david rothman institutions convicts served sentences.changed jacksonian era contemporary notions criminality continued shift.starting new institution penitentiary gradually became focal point criminal justice united states.time novel institutions—the asylum almshouse—redefined care mentally ill poor. |
History of United States prison systems | proponents penitentiary ambitious program whose external appearance internal arrangements daily routine would counteract disorder immorality thought breeding crime american society.although adoption haphazard first marked political strife—especially south—the penitentiary became established institution united states end s. new origins deviancy institutional response jacksonianera reformers prison officials began seeking origins crime personal histories criminals traced roots crime society itself.words historian david rothman certain children lacking discipline quickly fell victim influence vice loose community.jacksonian reformers specifically tied rapid population growth social mobility disorder immorality contemporary society.alongside movement reform prisons justify safety public.to combat societys decay risks presented jacksonian penologists designed institutional setting remove deviants corruption families communities. |
History of United States prison systems | corruptionfree environment deviant could learn vital moral lessons previously ignored sheltered temptations vice.solution ultimately took shape penitentiary.in new york pennsylvania began new prison initiatives inspired similar efforts number states.postrevolutionary carceral regimes conformed english workhouse tradition inmates labored together day shared congregate quarters night.beginning pennsylvania became first united states institute solitary confinement incarcerated convicts.sentenced hard labor pennsylvania moved indoors inner block solitary cells philadelphias walnut street jail.new york began implementing solitary living quarters new york citys newgate prison .from efforts walnut street jail newgate prison two competing systems imprisonment emerged united states s. auburn congregate system emerged new yorks prison name . |
History of United States prison systems | pennsylvania separate system emerged state .material difference two systems whether inmates would ever leave solitary cells—under pennsylvania system inmates almost never auburn system inmates labored congregate workshops day slept alone.to advocates systems promise institutionalization depended upon isolating prisoner moral contamination society establishing discipline rarer cases her.debate system superior continued midnineteenth century pitting periods prominent reformers one another.samuel gridley howe promoted pennsylvania system opposition mathew carey auburn proponent dorothea dix took pennsylvania system louis dwight francis lieber supported pennsylvania francis wayland.auburn system eventually prevailed however due largely lesser cost. |
History of United States prison systems | pennsylvania system pennsylvania system first implemented early states eastern state penitentiary outskirts philadelphia western state penitentiary pittsburgh designed maintain complete separation inmates times.prisoners entered institution black hood head would never know fellow convicts led cell would serve remainder sentence nearconstant solitude.cherry hill complex entailed massive expenditure state funds walls alone cost final price tag reached one largest state expenditures day.like competitor auburn system eastern states regimen premised inmates potential individual rehabilitation.solitude labor hallmark labor reserved inmates affirmatively earned privilege.contact outside world less ceased eastern state prisoners. |
History of United States prison systems | proponents boasted pennsylvania inmate perfectly secluded world ... hopelessly separated ... family communication knowledge whole term imprisonment.through isolation silence—complete separation moral contaminants outside worlds—pennsylvania supporters surmised inmates would begin reformation.individual representative tract reads necessarily made instrument punishment conscience avenger society.proponents insisted pennsylvania system would involve mild disciplinary measures reasoning isolated men would neither resources occasion violate rules escape.outset eastern states keepers used corporal punishments enforce order.officials used iron gag bridlelike metal bit placed inmates mouth chained around neck head shower bath repeated dumping cold water onto restrained convict mad chair inmates strapped way prevent bodies resting.ultimately three prisons ever enacted costly pennsylvania program.nearly penal reformers antebellum period believed pennsylvanias use solitary confinement. |
History of United States prison systems | system remained largely intact eastern state penitentiary early twentieth century.new york auburn system future penitentiary auburn congregate system became archetypical model penitentiary use expanded new yorks auburn penitentiary northeast midwest south.auburn systems combination congregate labor prison workshops solitary confinement night became nearuniversal ideal united states prison systems actual reality.under auburn system prisoners slept alone night labored together congregate workshop day entirety fixed criminal sentence set judge.prisoners auburn converse time even exchange glances.guards patrolled secret passageways behind walls prisons workshops moccasins inmates could never sure whether surveillance.one official described auburns discipline taking measures convincing felon longer master longer condition practice deceptions idleness must learn practice diligently useful trade whereby let prison obtain honest living. |
History of United States prison systems | inmates permitted intelligence events outside.words early warden auburn inmates literally buried world.institutions regime remained largely intact civil war.auburn second state prison built new york state.first newgate located presentday greenwich village new york city contained solitary cells beyond set aside worst offenders.first keeper quaker thomas eddy believed rehabilitation criminal primary end punishment though eddy also believed charges wicked depraved capable every atrocity ever plotting means violence escape. |
History of United States prison systems | eddy inclined rely prisoners fear severity chief disciplinary weapon solitary confinement limited rations forbade guards striking inmates permitted wellbehaved inmates supervised visit family every three months.eddy made largely unsuccessful efforts establish profitable prison labor programs hoped would cover incarceration costs provide seed money inmates reentry society form overstint—i.e.small portion profits inmates labor incarcerated payable release.discipline nevertheless remained hard enforce major riots occurred —the latter subdued via military intervention.conditions continued worsen wake riots especially crime wave followed war .new york legislators set aside funds construction auburn prison address disappointments newgate alleviate persistent overcrowding. |
History of United States prison systems | almost outset auburn officials consent legislature eschewed humane style envisioned thomas eddy newgate.floggings thirtynine lashes duration punishment disciplinary infractions permitted state law also authorized use stocks irons.practice providing convicts proceeds labor time release overstint discontinued.severity new regime likely caused another series riots legislature formed new york state prison guard putting future disturbances.officials also began implementing classification system auburn wake riots dividing inmates three groups worst placed constant solitary lockdown middling offenders kept solitary worked groups wellbehaved least guilty depraved permitted sleep solitary work groups.construction new solitary cell block category inmates ended december hardened offenders moved new home. |
History of United States prison systems | within little year however five men died consumption another fortyone seriously ill several gone insane.visiting prison seeing residents new cell block governor joseph c. yates appalled condition pardoned several outright.scandal struck auburn female inmate became pregnant solitary confinement later died repeated beatings onset pneumonia.auburn relied female inmates washing cleaning services women remained part population first separate womens institution new york completed .jury convicted keeper beat woman assault battery fined remained job.grand jury investigation aspects prisons management followed hampered among obstacles fact convicts could present evidence court. |
History of United States prison systems | even grand jury eventually concluded auburns keepers permitted flog inmates without higher official present violation state law.neither warden officer ever prosecuted use intensity flogging increased auburn well newer sing sing prison subsequent years.despite early scandals regular political power struggles left unstable administrative structure auburn remained model institution nationwide decades come.massachusetts opened new prison modeled auburn system within first decade auburns existence new hampshire vermont maryland kentucky ohio tennessee district columbia constructed prisons patterned congregate system.eve american civil war illinois indiana georgia missouri mississippi texas arkansas varying success inaugurated efforts establish auburnmodel prison jurisdictions.the widespread move penitentiaries antebellum united states changed geography criminal punishment well central therapy.offenders ferried across water walled compounds centralized institutions criminal justice system hidden public view. |
History of United States prison systems | penitentiary thus largely ended community involvement penal process—beyond limited role criminal trial itself—though many prisons permitted visitors paid fee view inmates throughout nineteenth century.south eve american civil war crime pose major concern southern united states.southerners main considered crime northern problem.traditional extralegal system remedying slights based honor culture made personal violence hallmark southern crime.southern penitentiary systems brought hardened criminals centralized state control. |
History of United States prison systems | criminals remained outside formal state control structures—especially outside southern cities.antebellum southern republicanism political opposition penitentiary building historical record suggests contrast northerners southern states experienced unique political anxiety whether construct prisons antebellum period.disagreements republican principles—i.e.role state social governance—became focus persistent debate necessity southern penitentiaries decades independence civil war.to many southerners writes historian edward l. ayers republicanism translated simply freedom anyone else centralized power even name activist republican government promised evil good.ayers concludes form southern republicanism owed particular shape slavery. |
History of United States prison systems | souths slave economy perpetuated rural localized culture argues men distrusted strangers claims power.political milieu notion surrendering individual liberties kind—even criminals—for abstract conception social improvement abhorrent many.but criminal incarceration appealed others south.southerners believed freedom would best grow protection enlightened state government made criminal law effective eradicating brutal practices offering criminals possibility rehabilitation restoration society.also believed penitentiaries would help remove contagion depravity republican society segregating threatened republican ideal disturbing class.notions living worlds ideas progress also animated southern penal reformers. |
History of United States prison systems | georgia legislature considered abolishing states penitentiary devastating fire reformers worried state would become first renounce republican progress.a sizable portion southern population—if majority—did support establishment penitentiary.two times voters region opportunity express opinion penitentiary system ballot box—in alabama north carolina—the penitentiary lost overwhelmingly.viewed traditional public punishments republican mechanism criminal justice due inherent transparency.worried since quantity suffering penitentiary system would sure far exceed traditional system southern jurors would maintain historic disposal toward acquittal.evangelical southern clergymen also opposed penitentiary—especially implementation accompanied statutory restriction death penalty deemed biblical requirement certain crimes.opposition penitentiary crossed party lines neither whigs democrats lent consistent support institution antebellum period. |
History of United States prison systems | consistent enthusiastic support penitentiary come almost uniformly southern governors.motives governors note entirely unclear historian edward l. ayers concludes perhaps hoped additional patronage positions offered penitentiary would augment historically weak power southern executive perhaps legitimately concerned problem crime perhaps considerations played role.grand juries—drawn southern elites—also issued regular calls penitentiaries period.ultimately penitentiarys supporters prevailed south north.southern legislators enacted prison legislation state southern state civil war often public opposition.motives appear mixed. |
History of United States prison systems | according edward l. ayers southern legislators appear believed knew best people case.since many southern legislators came elite classes ayers also observes may also personal class control motive enacting penitentiary legislation even could point participation penitentiary efforts evidence benevolence.historian michael s. hindus concludes southern hesitation penitentiary least south carolina stemmed slave system made creation white criminal underclass undesirable.prison construction southern states erected penitentiaries alongside northern counterparts early nineteenth century.virginia maryland tennessee georgia louisiana missouri – mississippi alabama – erected penitentiary facilities antebellum period. |
History of United States prison systems | north carolina south carolina largely uninhabited florida failed build penitentiary civil warvirginia first state pennsylvania dramatically reduce number crimes punishable death legislators simultaneously called construction gaol penitentiary house cornerstone new criminal justice regime.designed benjamin henry latrobe states first prison richmond resembled jeremy benthams panopticon design well notyetbuilt eastern state penitentiarys.inmates served mandatory period solitary confinement initial entry.unfortunately inhabitants site richmond virginias first penitentiary built bordered stagnant pool sewage collected.prisons cells heating system water oozed walls leading inmates extremities freeze winter months.prisoners could perform work solitary portion sentence served completely isolated neartotal darkness many went mad portion sentence. |
History of United States prison systems | prisoners survived isolation period joined inmates prison workshop make goods state militia.workshop never turned profit.escapes common.but despite virginias example kentucky maryland georgia constructed prisons trend continued south thereafter.early southern prisons marked escapes violence arson.personal reformation inmates left almost solely underpaid prison chaplains. |
History of United States prison systems | bitter opposition public rampant overcrowding marked southern penal systems antebellum period.established southern penitentiaries took lives states system experiencing complex history innovation stagnation efficient inefficient wardens relative prosperity poverty fires escapes legislative attacks follow common trajectory.during period slavery existed black southerners lower south imprisoned virtually none imprisoned slaves.often slaves accused crimes—especially less serious offenses—were tried informally extralegal plantation courts although uncommon slaves come within formal jurisdiction southern courts.majority southern inmates antebellum period foreignborn whites.nevertheless upper south free blacks made significant disproportionate onethird state prison populations. |
History of United States prison systems | governors legislators upper lower south became concerned racial mixing prison systems.virginia experimented time selling free blacks convicted serious crimes slavery public opposition led measures repeal forty persons sold.very women black white imprisoned antebellum south.women come control southern prisons conditions often horrendous according edward l. ayers.although made shave heads like male convicts female inmates antebellum south live specialized facilities—as case many antebellum northern prisons—and sexual abuse common.as north costs imprisonment preoccupied southern authorities although appears southerners devoted concern problem northern counterparts.southern governors antebellum period tended little patience prisons turn profit least break even. |
History of United States prison systems | southern prisons adopted many moneymaking tactics northern counterparts.prisons earned money charging fees visitors.also earned money harnessing convict labor produce simple goods steady demand like slave shoes wagons pails bricks.fomented unrest among workers tradesmen southern towns cities.governor andrew johnson tennessee former tailor waged political war states penitentiary industries introduced among inmates. |
History of United States prison systems | avoid conflicts states—like georgia mississippi—experimented prison industry staterun enterprises.end penitentiaries north south turned profit antebellum period.presaging reconstructionera developments however virginia georgia tennessee began considering idea leasing convicts private businesspersons s. prisoners missouri alabama texas kentucky louisiana leased convicts antebellum period variety arrangements—some inside prison northern prisons also others outside states facilities.urban crime antebellum south vast majority southern population worked agriculture.whereas proportion northern population working farms dropped period percent percent southerners consistently engaged farmrelated work.reflecting onetenth southerners lived contemporary census criteria described urban area compared nearly onequarter northerners.antebellum southern cities stood juncture regions slave economy international market economy economics appear played crucial role shaping face crime southern cities. |
History of United States prison systems | urban centers tended attract young propertyless white males southern countryside also north abroad.urban immigration south reached peak economic boom cotton produced flush times.poor young men others—white black—settled peripheries southern cities like savannah georgia.came contact wealthy stable elements modern society producing demographics similar postrevolutionary philadelphia northern cities.the first modern southern police forces emerged civil war large part due classbased tensions developed southern cities.southern cities—notably new orleans charleston—experimented police forces even earlier eighteenth century means controlling large urban slave populations. |
History of United States prison systems | southern cities relied volunteer nightwatch forces prior midcentury.transition uniformed police forces especially smooth major political opposition arose result perceived corruption inefficiency threat individual liberty posed new police.according edward l. ayers southern police forces antebellum period tended enforce uniformity creating crime disorder nuisance enforcement.vast majority theft prosecutions antebellum south arose cities.property offenders made disproportionate share convict population.although thieves burglars constituted fewer percent criminals convicted southern courts made half souths prison population.during period independence civil war southern inmates disproportionately ethnic. |
History of United States prison systems | foreignborn persons made less percent souths free population.fact oneeighth immigrants united states antebellum period settled south.yet foreign immigrants represented anywhere percent prison population southern states period.crime southern cities generally mirrored northern ones antebellum years.sections experienced spike imprisonment rates national market depression eve american civil war.north experienced similar depression s—with concurrent increase imprisonment—that agrarian south not. |
History of United States prison systems | urban crime south differed north one key way—its violence.significantly higher percentage violence characterized southern criminal offenders class levels.young white males made bulk violent offenders urban south.slavery urban south also played role development penal institutions.urban slaveowners often utilized jails store human property punish slaves disciplinary infractions.slaveholding urban areas tended less rigid rural south. |
History of United States prison systems | nearly percent slaves living savannah georgia example reside master many allowed hire wages though share proceeds owner.environment racial control difficult enforce southern whites constantly guard black criminality.charleston south carolina established specialized workhouse masters send slaves punishment fee.savannah georgia owners could send slaves city jail punishment administered.rural crime antebellum south industrialization proceeded haphazardly across south antebellum period large sections rural population participated subsistence economy like colonial era. |
History of United States prison systems | patterns crime regions reflected economic realities violence thefts took docket space rural southern courts.unlike antebellum urban spaces ups downs market economy lesser impact crime souths rural areas.far fewer theft cases appear criminal dockets rural antebellum south cities though rural judges juries like urban counterparts dealt property offenders harshly violent ones.crime rural areas consisted almost solely violent offenses.most counties antebellum south—as north—maintained jail housing pretrial presentence detainees.varied size quality construction considerably result disparities wealth various counties.unlike southern cities however rural counties rarely used jail criminal punishment antebellum period even states across northeast midwest shifted focus criminal justice process rehabilitative incarceration. |
History of United States prison systems | instead fines mainstay rural southern justice.the nonuse imprisonment criminal punishment rural antebellum south reflected haphazard administration criminal justice regions.general criminal procedure day victims theft violence swore complaints local justice peace turn issued arrest warrants accused.county sheriff would execute warrant bring defendant magistrate judge would conduct preliminary hearing could either dismiss case bind accused superior court grand jury hearing.cases however particularly involving moral offenses like drinking gambling initiated grand jury accord.criminal procedure antebellum rural south offered many avenues escape criminal defendant poorest resided jail awaiting trial sentencing.defendants spend time jail trial wait prosecutors biannual visit county. |
History of United States prison systems | southern prosecutors generally live local area prosecuted cases generally illprepared.disinterested jurors also hard come given generally intimate nature rural southern communities.relative leniency sentencing appears marked judicial proceedings violent offenses—the common.historical evidence suggests juries indicted greater number potential offenders judicial system could handle belief many troublemakers—especially landless—would leave country altogether.few immigrants free blacks lived rural south precivil war years slaves remained dominant control separate criminal justice system administered planters throughout period.thus criminal defendants southernborn whites socioeconomic classes represented criminal dockets. |
History of United States prison systems | blacks occasionally came within purview conventional criminal justice apparatus dealings whites gray market among offenses.danger whites blacks alike illicit trading violence often erupted meetings tendency whites take advantage legally impotent black counterparties made occurrences relatively rare.reconstruction era american civil war aftermath witnessed renewed efforts reform americas system rationale imprisonment.state prisons remained unchanged since wave penitentiary building jacksonian era result state physical administrative deterioration.auburn eastern state penitentiaries paradigmatic prisons jacksonian reform little different. |
History of United States prison systems | new reformers confronted problems decaying antebellum prisons new penal regime focused rehabilitation individual—this time emphasis using institutional inducements means affecting behavioral change.time reconstructionera penology also focused emerging scientific views criminality related race heredity postwar years witnessed birth eugenics movement united states.northern developments brutality immigration eugenics prisons laboratories social historian david rothman describes story postreconstruction prison administration one decline ambitions jacksonian period.facing major overcrowding understaffing issues prison officials reverted amazingly bizarre methods controlling charges rothman writes.among punishments proliferated period werethe pulley tying up—convicts suspended wrists fastened head anywhere minutes hour. |
History of United States prison systems | sing sing prison treatment especially popular new york investigator related men kept raised long cause bleeding mouth doctor would order prisoner taken down.wardens also used variation pulley known hooks involved tying inmates hands together lashing wall chest height forcing put weight onto toes.the iron cap cage—the convict wore case composed small rods bands iron—which weighed ½ pounds—around neck iron band across next shoulders held place.the lash paddle—this traditional penitentiary punishment continued postwar era refinement—i.e.weighted leather strips aerated paddles used instead whips.number strokes set offense placed like massachusetts limited statute.sing sing convicts reportedly jumped upper galleries prisons cell blocks effort break legs escape paddling.solitary confinement dungeon—reconstructionera inmates locked dark solitary cells furnished bucket fed short rations disciplinary infractions usually period week sometimes six more.straitjackets—wardens used much discipline inmate safety.brickbag—convicts would work forced institutions wear heavy bag full weighted objects.water crib—used reconstructionera prison kansas disciplinary instrument involved inmates placed coffinlike box sixandahalf feet long thirty inches wide threefeet deep. |
History of United States prison systems | inmate would lie face hands cuffed behind back keepers slowly filled crib water simulate drowning.although wardens tended believe measures necessary control contemporary observers generally found unquestionably cruel unusual according rothman.northern states continued lease labor convicts private business interests postwar years.thirteenth amendment adopted expressly permitted slavery punishment crime whereof party shall duly convicted.northern prisons state generally housed fed inmate laborers contractors brought necessary machinery prison facility leased inmates time.abuses common according investigative reporter scott christianson employers guards tried extract much time effort prisoners possible.new jerseys prison trenton inmate died stretched prison staff committee investigating discipline prison determined officials poured alcohol epileptics set fire see faking convulsions order skip work.ohio penitentiary unproductive convicts made sit naked puddles water receive electric shocks induction coil. |
History of United States prison systems | new york public investigations practices states prisons became increasingly frequent s—though little actual effect conditions.revealed prisoner poisoned death working one institution another found kept chained floor ten months solitary confinement eventually suffered mental breakdown.by large americans little address disciplinary abuses united states penitentiaries time.one reason apathy according authors scott christianson david rothman composition contemporary prison populations.following civil war volume immigration united states increased alongside expanding nativist sentiment fixture national politics since long war.many million immigrants arrived shores united states. |
History of United States prison systems | influx rose .million immigrants fled persecution unrest eastern southern europe.trend continued immigration reached zenith million persons per year.already prisons along asylums mentally ill becoming special preserve foreignborn poor.trend accelerated nineteenth century drew close.illinois example percent inmates foreignborn secondgeneration immigrants—irish german mostly. |
History of United States prison systems | less onethird illinois inmates completed grammar school percent high school college education great majority held unskilled semiskilled jobs.california percent prisoners foreignborn—predominantly chinese mexican irish german descent—and majority laborers waiters cooks farmers.throughout postwar years rate imprisonment foreignborn americans twice nativeborn ones black americans incarcerated north south three times rate white americans.the civil wars end also witnessed emergence pseudoscientific theories concerning biological superiority inherited social inferiority.commentators grafted darwinian concept survival fittest onto notions social class.charles loring brace author dangerous classes new york warned readers attempts cure poverty charity would backfire lessening poors chance survival. |
History of United States prison systems | richard l. dugdale civicminded new york merchant toured thirteen county jails voluntary inspector prestigious prison association new york.reflecting observations later writings dugdale traced crime hereditary criminality promiscuity.these views race genetics christianson rothman conclude affected various official supervisory bodies established monitor regulatory compliance united states prisons.although monitoring boards established either state executive legislature would ostensibly ferret abuses prison system end apathy toward incarcerated population rendered largely illequipped task ensuring even humane care rothman argues.state federal judges part refrained monitoring prison conditions s.persistent beliefs inherited criminality social inferiority also stoked growing eugenics movement reconstruction era sought improve human race controlled breeding eliminate poor inferior tendencies.late eugenics programs enjoying fullblown renaissance american prisons institutions mentally ill leading physicians psychologists wardens proponents. |
History of United States prison systems | italian criminologist cesare lombroso published highly influential tract entitled luomo delinquente criminal man theorized primitive criminal type existed identifiable physical symptoms stigmata.phrenology also became popular science among prison officials height studys popularity influential reconstruction era matron sing sing prison elizabeth w. farnham one adherents officials eastern state penitentiary maintained phrenological data inmates postwar years.as field physical anthropology gained traction prisons became laboratories studying eugenics psychology human intelligence medicine drug treatment genetics birth control.support initiatives sprang influential prison reform organizations united states time—e.g.prison reform congress national conference charities corrections national prison congress prison association new york philadelphia society alleviating miseries public prisons.new methods identifying criminal tendencies classifying offenders threat level emerged prisonbased research.instance new york began requiring persons sentenced penal institution thirty days measured photographed state records.eugenics studies prison setting led development vasectomy replacement total castration.eugenics studies day aimed prevent extinction genetic deterioration mankind restraints reproduction according author scott christianson. |
History of United States prison systems | mids kansas home feebleminded began performing mass castrations residents.indiana became first state enact compulsory sterilization act certain mentally ill criminal persons .john d. rockefeller jr. eugenics devotee became involved social darwinist experiments new york.rockefeller created bureau social hygiene conducted experiments female prisoners states consent financial support determine roots criminality mental defectiveness.failure jacksonian reform renewed efforts new group prison reformers emerged reconstruction era maintained optimism institution initiated efforts make prison center moral rehabilitation. |
History of United States prison systems | efforts led change contemporary prisons would take another period reform progressive era significant structural revisions prison systems united states.the primary failure reconstruction era penitentiaries according historian david rothman administrative.state governors typically appointed political patrons prison posts usually fulltime salaried.example board utica new york asylum composed two bankers grain merchant two manufacturers two lawyers two general businessman.prison oversight boards like utica one composed local businessmen tended defer prison officials matters focus solely financial oversight rothman writes therefore tended perpetuate status quo.prison reform efforts reconstruction era came variety sources.fears genetic contamination criminal class effect future mankind led numerous moral policing efforts aimed curbing promiscuity prostitution white slavery period. |
History of United States prison systems | meanwhile campaigns criminalize domestic violence especially toward children related temperance movements led renewed commitment law order many communities onward.legislators ignored demands protection women children feminist activists lobbied harsher punishments male criminal offenders—including whipping post castration longer prison terms.another group reformers continued justify penitentiaries negative reasons—i.e.fear sustained successful attack prison system failings might yield return barbarism colonialera punishments.nevertheless degree optimism continued dominate thinking reformers postcivil war period according historian david rothman.by october notable reconstruction era prison reformers enoch wines franklin sanborn theodore dwight zebulon brockway—among others—convened national congress penitentiary reformatory discipline cincinnati ohio.resolutions emerged conference called declaration principles became chief planks penitentiary reform agenda united states next several decades. |
History of United States prison systems | essence national congress agenda declaration renewed commitment moral regeneration offenders especially young ones new model penitentiary.the national congress declaration principles characterized crime sort moral disease.declaration stated great object ...treatment criminals . |
History of United States prison systems | ..moral regeneration ... |
History of United States prison systems | reformation criminals infliction vindictive suffering.declaration took inspiration irish mark system pioneered penologist sir walter crofton.object croftons system teach prisoners lead upright life use goodtime credits early release behavioral incentives.declarations primary goals cultivate prisoners sense selfrespect place prisoners destiny hands.declaration broadlycalled sanitary improvements end political appointment prison administratorswelcomed increased participation women prison managementadvocated progressive system classifying prisoners based individualized continuous assessments character mark systemstressed importance educating inmates andargued prisoners wills must via persuasion destroyed.the national congress responded agenda also hoped implement openended sentencing code. |
History of United States prison systems | advocated replacement peremptory mandatory sentences day set judge trial sentences indeterminate length.true proof reformation congress declaration provided replace mere lapse time winning inmates release confinement.suggestions anticipated nearcomprehensive adoption indeterminate sentencing progressive era.in spite many progressive suggestions penal reform national congress showed little sensitivity plight freed blacks immigrants penal system view author scott christianson.christianson notes national congress membership generally subscribed prevailing contemporary notion blacks foreigners disproportionately represented prison system due inherent depravity social inferiority.the rise decline elmira reformatory new york latter part nineteenth century represents ambitious attempt reconstruction era fulfill goals set national congress declaration principles.built elmira institution designed hold firsttime felons ages sixteen thirty serving indeterminate term imprisonment set sentencing judge. |
History of United States prison systems | elmira inmates earn way institution good behavior assessed elaborate grading system.limits inmates terms imprisonment whatever upper threshold legislature set offense.elmiras administration underscores fundamental tension contemporary penal reform according authors scott christianson david rothman.one hand purpose rehabilitate offenders reform principles tempered belief heritability criminal behavior.elmiras first warden national congress member zebulon brockway wrote least onehalf charges incorrigible due genetics.brockway characterized modern criminals considerable extent product civilization . |
History of United States prison systems | ..emigration shore degenerated populations crowded european marts.brockway reserved harshest disciplinary measures—e.g.frequent whippings solitary confinement—for deemed incorrigible primarily mentally physically disabled.elmira regarded many contemporaries wellrun model institution early years. |
History of United States prison systems | nevertheless reformatory seriously overcrowded brockways ideas genetic degeneracy lowintelligence criminality came fire result brutality toward mentally physically disabled.executive investigation elmiras disciplinary practices concluded discipline institution harsh although eventually cleared brockway charges practiced cruel brutal excessive degrading unusual punishment inmates.continuing stigma led brockway resign post elmira .historian david rothman characterizes brockways departure elmira marking institutions failure reformed penitentiary since methods hardly different jacksonian era institutions survived postwar years.rothman also concludes elmira experience suggested contemporary reformers management blame proposed system incarceration generally.progressive era early twentieth century thus witnessed renewed efforts implement penal agenda espoused national congress adherents —albeit noteworthy structural additions. |
History of United States prison systems | southern developments civil war brought overwhelming change southern society criminal justice system.freed slaves joined southern population came primary control local governments first time.time market economy began affect individuals regions south previously untouched.widespread poverty end nineteenth century unraveled souths prior racebased social fabric.reconstructionera cities like savannah georgia intricate codes racial etiquette began unravel almost immediately war onset emancipation. |
History of United States prison systems | local police forces available antebellum south depleted war could enforce racial order before.white population stricken poverty resentment united racial policing antebellum period.end reconstruction new configuration crime punishment emerged south hybrid racialized form incarceration hard labor convicts leased private businesses endured well twentieth century.changing demographics crime punishment reconstructionera south economic turmoil postwar south reconstituted race relations nature crime region whites attempted reassert supremacy.earlier extralegal efforts toward reestablishing white supremacy like ku klux klan gradually gave way certain less volatile forms race control according historian edward l. ayers. |
History of United States prison systems | racial animosity hatred grew races became ever separate ayers argues southern legal institutions turned much attention preserving racial status quo whites.patterns monoracial law enforcement ayers refers established southern states almost immediately american civil war.cities never police forces moved quickly establish whites became far less critical urban police forces postwar politics whereas antebellum period engendered major political debate.savannah georgias postwar police force made confederate veterans patrolled city gray uniforms armed rifles revolvers sabers.led exconfederate general richard h. anderson.ayers concludes white policemen protecting white citizens became model law enforcement efforts across south american civil war.depressed economic conditions impacted white black farmers postwar south cotton prices entered worldwide decline interest rates personal debt rose astonishing speed close hostilities. |
History of United States prison systems | property crime convictions southern countryside rare antebellum years rose precipitously throughout though violent crime white offenders continued take majority rural courts business.former slaves migrated southern cities often received lowestpaying jobs generally affected acutely economic downturns rural counterparts.five years civil war percent black population savannah georgia owned property.increases black property crime prosecutions savannah correlate major economic downturns postwar period.whites made attempts disguise injustice courts according historian edward l. ayers.blacks uniformly excluded juries denied opportunity participate criminal justice process aside defendants.thefts black offenders became new focus southern justice systems began supplant violent crimes white offenders court dockets. |
History of United States prison systems | whether city countryside accused property crime stood greatest chance conviction postwar southern courts.black defendants convicted highest numbers.last half nineteenth century three every five white defendants accused property crime southern courts convicted four every five black defendants were.conviction rates whites meanwhile dropped substantially antebellum levels throughout last half nineteenth century.this system justice led opinion w. e. b. du bois system neither blacks whites respected criminal justice system—whites rarely held accountable blacks accountability felt disproportionate.ultimately thousands black southerners served long terms chain gangs petty theft misdemeanors thousands went convict lease system.in criminal sentencing blacks disproportionately sentenced incarceration—whether chain gang convict leasing operation penitentiary—in relation white peers. |
History of United States prison systems | black incarceration peaked radical reconstruction southern whites exercised virtually unchecked power restored efficiency criminal courts.example north carolinas prisoners black proportion increased slightly .virginias convicts in—including four sixtyseven female prisoners—were black.phenomenon specific south proportion black inmates northern prisons virtually identical southern prisons throughout second half nineteenth century.rural courts met rarely postwar years prisoners often sat jails months awaiting trial governments expense.chain gangs emerged postwar years initial solution economic deficit. |
History of United States prison systems | urban rural counties moved locus criminal punishment municipalities towns county began change economics punishment heavy expense source public revenue—at least terms infrastructure improvements.even misdemeanors could turned economic advantage defendants often sentenced chain gang additional three eight months tacked onto sentence cover costs.southern economy foundered wake peculiar institutions destruction property crime rose state governments increasingly explored economic potential convict labor throughout reconstruction period twentieth century.institutional power struggles southern justice apparatus farreaching change history crime punishment nineteenthcentury south according historian edward l. ayers states assumption control blacks exmasters .. |
History of United States prison systems | ..process occurred halting tenuous transition began moment master told slaves free.landscape ayers writes freedmens bureau vied southern whites—through official government apparatuses informal organizations like ku klux klan—over opposing notions justice postwar south.southern whites main tried salvage much antebellum order possible wake american civil war waiting see changes might forced upon them.black codes enacted almost immediately war—mississippi south carolina passed early —were initial effort direction. |
History of United States prison systems | although use racial terms codes defined punished new crime vagrancy broadly enough guarantee newly free black americans would remain de facto condition servitude.codes vested considerable discretion local judges juries carry mission county courts could choose lengths types punishment previously unavailable.available punishments vagrancy arson rape burglary particular—thought whites peculiarly black crimes—widened considerably postwar years.soon hostilities officially ceased united states confederate states america black vagrants nashville tennessee new orleans louisiana fined sent city workhouse.san antonio texas montgomery alabama free blacks arrested imprisoned put work streets pay upkeep.northern journalist passed selma alabama immediately civil war told white man ever sentenced chain gang blacks condemned crimes using abusive language towards white man selling farm produce within town limits.at time reconstruction era southern governments enacted black codes also began change nature states penal machinery make economic development tool. |
History of United States prison systems | social historian marie gottschalk characterizes use penal labor southern state governments postwar years important bridge agricultural economy based slavery industrialization agricultural modernization new south.many prisons south state disrepair end american civil war state budgets across region exhausted.mississippis penitentiary instance devastated war funds depleted.states military government began leasing convicts rebuild wrecked railroad levees within state.began leasing convicts nathan bedford forrest former confederate general slave trader well first imperial wizard emerging ku klux klan.texas also experienced major postwar depression midst legislators enacted tough new laws calling forced inmate labor within prison walls works public utility outside states detention facilities.soon texas began leasing convicts railroads irrigation navigation projects lead copper iron mines.virginias prison richmond collapsed wake citys surrender occupying union forces rounded many convicts could order return work. |
History of United States prison systems | alabama began leasing wetumpka prison private businessmen soon civil war.during reconstruction era north carolina legislature authorized state judges sentence offenders work chain gangs county roads railroads internal improvements maximum term one year—though escapees recaptured would serve double original sentence.north carolina failed erect penitentiary antebellum period legislators planned build auburnstyle penitentiary replace penal labor system.graft shady dealings soon rendered new prison impracticable north carolina convicts continued leased railroad companies.freed blacks became primary workers souths emerging penal labor system.accused property crime—white black—stood greatest chance conviction postwar southern courts.black property offenders convicted often white ones—at rate eight convictions every ten black defendants compared six every ten white defendants. |
History of United States prison systems | overall conviction rates whites dropped substantially antebellum levels reconstruction era continued decline throughout last half nineteenth century.the freedmens bureau charged implementing congressional reconstruction throughout former confederate states primary political body opposed increasing racial overtones southern criminal justice reconstruction era.bureaus mission reflected strong faith impersonal legalism according historian edward l. ayers agents act guarantors blacks legal equality.bureau maintained courts south adjudicate minor civil criminal cases involving freed slaves.ultimately ayers concludes bureau largely failed protect freed slaves crime violence whites injustices southern legal system although bureau provide much needed services freed slaves form food clothing school support assistance contracts.greensboro north carolina herald bluntly stated freedmens bureau match organic law land south white supremacy.in rural south freedmens bureau strong isolated agents often unable assert whites jurisdiction. |
History of United States prison systems | manpower issues local white resentment led early compromises southern civilians allowed serve magistrates freedmens courts although move opposed many former slaves.in cities like savannah georgia freedmens courts appeared even disposed enforcing wishes local whites sentencing former slaves veterans union army chain gangs corporal punishments public shaming.savannah freedmens courts even approved arrests offenses shouting religious colored meeting speaking disrespectfully white man.the bureaus influence postwar patterns crime punishment temporary limited.united states congress believed unprecedented federal intrusion state affairs bureau could bring true republicanism south according edward l. ayers southerners instinctively resented grave violation republican ideals.southerners always tended circumscribe sphere written institutionalized law ayers argues began associate outside oppression federal government saw little reason respect all.resentment vigilante groups like ku klux klan arose opposition bureau mission—though words ayers klan relatively brief episode long history postwar group violence south extralegal retribution continued tradition.for part former slaves reconstructionera south made efforts counteract white supremacist violence injustice. |
History of United States prison systems | march abraham winfield ten black men petitioned head georgia freedmens bureau relief oppression bureaus court savannah—especially civil war veterans.rural areas like greene county georgia blacks met vigilante violence whites violence own.withdrawal freedmens bureau continuing political violence whites blacks ultimately lost struggle according historian edward l. ayers.southern courts largely unable—even willing—to bring whites justice violence black southerners.early mids white political supremacy established anew across south.in southern cities different form violence emerged postwar years. |
History of United States prison systems | race riots erupted southern cities almost immediately war continued years afterward.edward l. ayers concludes antebellum legal restraints blacks widespread poverty primary cause many clashes.whites resented labor competition blacks depressed postwar southern economy police forces—many composed unreconstructed southerners—often resorted violence.ultimate goal blacks whites obtain political power vacuum created war emancipation blacks ultimately lost struggle reconstruction period.beginning convict lease system convict leasing practiced north earliest days penitentiary movement taken southern states earnest following american civil war. |
History of United States prison systems | use convict labor remained popular nationwide throughout postwar period.national survey reported institutions employed inmates industries produced goods valued .million.although relatively small sum comparison estimated .billion goods produced free labor prison labor big business involved particular industries.but convict leasing postwar south came play central role crime punishment north continued approbation souths leading men well twentieth century. |
History of United States prison systems | halfcentury following civil war convict camps dotted southern landscape thousands men women—most former slaves—passed years lives within system.men capital north south bought years convicts lives put work large mining railroad operations well smaller everyday businesses.average death rate southern leasing arrangements exceeded northern prisons threefold.the convict lease practiced south bald attempt state governments resurrect slavery according historians edward l. ayers marie gottschalk.reflected continuities race relations argue also reflected fundamental changes postwar southern economy.first time millions freed slaves came centralized control state penal apparatuses time nascent industrial capitalism south faced shortage capital labor. |
History of United States prison systems | former slaves easiest southern demographic impress service adapt southern industries changes.ultimately however longest legacy system may symbol white souths injustice inhumanity.dr. e. stagg national commission prison labor described status southern convict last surviving vestige slave system.northern writer referred southern chain gang souths new peculiar institution.southern penitentiaries antebellum period large continued fall disrepair postwar years became mere outposts much larger convict labor system.one one southern penitentiary systems disintegrated american civil war.mississippi sent prisoners alabama safekeeping midst northern invasion. |
History of United States prison systems | louisiana concentrated prisoners single urban workhouse.arkansas dispersed convicts union army breached borders.occupied tennessee hired prisoners united states government georgia freed inmates general william tecumseh sherman headed atlanta armies .fall richmond virginias prisoners escaped.the convict lease system emerged haltingly chaos edward l. ayers marie gottschalk conclude penitentiary years past.penitentiary become southern institution point ayers points complete abolition would required major renovation state criminal codes. |
History of United States prison systems | states like georgia tried revive penitentiary systems postwar years first deal crumbling state infrastructure growing prison population.three states established prisons antebellum period—i.e.carolinas florida—hastened establish reconstruction.but many southern states—including north carolina mississippi virginia georgia—soon turned lease system temporary expedient rising costs convict populations outstripped meager resources.according edward l. ayers south .. |
History of United States prison systems | .less stumbled lease seeking way avoid large expenditures hoping truly satisfactory plan would emerge.social historian marie gottschalk characterizes leasing arrangements important bridge agricultural economy based slavery industrialization agricultural modernization new south.may help explain support convict lease altogether widespread southern society ayers concludes.single group—black white republican democrat—consistently opposed lease gained power.the labor convict lessees performed varied southern economy evolved american civil war. |
History of United States prison systems | explantation owners early beneficiaries emerging industrial capitalism ventures—e.g.phosphate mines turpentine plants florida railroads mississippi across south—soon came demand convict labor.south experienced acute labor shortage postwar years edward l. ayers explains pool displaced agricultural laborers available feed needs factory owners england continent.the lease system useful capitalists wanted make money quickly labor costs fixed low labor uncertainty reduced vanishing point.convicts could driven point free laborers would tolerate could drink misbehave.although labor unrest economic depression continued rile north factories lease system insulated beneficiaries south external costs.in many cases edward l. ayers writes businessmen utilized convictlease system politicians administered it. |
History of United States prison systems | system became ayers argues sort mutual aid society new breed capitalists politicians controlled white democratic regimes new south.thus ayers concludes officials often something hide contemporary reports leasing operations often skirted ignored appalling conditions death rates attended projects.in alabama percent convict lessees died term labor —death rates percent respectively.lessees mississippis convict labor projects died nine times rate inmates northern prisons throughout s. one man served time mississippi system claimed reported death rates would far higher state pardoned many broken convicts died could home instead.compared contemporary nonleasing prison systems nationwide recouped percent expenses average convict leasing systems earned average profits percent.even comparison northern factories edward l. ayers writes lease systems profitability real sustained postwar years remained twentieth century.exposes lease system began appearing increasing frequency newspapers state documents northern publications publications national prison associations postwar period—just northern prisons like new york.mass grave sites containing remains convict lessees discovered southern states like alabama united states steel corporation purchased convict labor mining operations several years end nineteenth beginning twentieth centuries.the focus southern justice racial control postwar years profound effect demographics lease systems populations. |
History of United States prison systems | civil war virtually southern prisoners white postwar leasing arrangements almost approximately percent black.antebellum period white immigrants made disproportionate share souths prison population disappearing prison records postwar period.reasons likely twofold edward l. ayers suggests.first white immigrants generally avoided postwar south due generally poor economic climate major increase labor competition posed emancipated slaves.second preoccupation postwar southern police forces crime committed blacks decreased efforts among white population including immigrants.the source convicts also changed postwar south. |
History of United States prison systems | american civil war rural counties sent defendants state penitentiaries war rural courts became steady suppliers states leasing systems though cities remained largest supplier convict lessees period.savannah georgia example sent convicts leasing operations approximately three times number population would suggest pattern amplified reality percent blacks convicted courts received prison sentence.most convicts twenties younger.number women southern prison systems increased postwar years percent ratio incommensurate contemporary prisons united states major increase south previously boasted moral rectitude white female population.virtually women black.the officials ran souths leasing operations tried maintain strict racial separation convict camps refusing recognize social equality races even among felons.one southerner reported national prison congress mixing races prison akin torture anciently practised tieing sic murderer dead body victim limb limb head foot decaying corpse brought death living. |
History of United States prison systems | whites end southern prisons according edward l. ayers considered lowest race.least legislators referred white prisoners racial epithets reserved blacks time.the southern lease system something less total system.vast majority convictlease camps dispersed little way walls securities measures—although southern chain gangs carted around openair cages work sites kept night.order camps generally tenuous best edward l. ayers argues.escapes frequent brutal punishments characterized camps—chains bloodhounds guns corporal punishments—were dealt palpable sense desperation. |
History of United States prison systems | least observers however questioned whether high number reported escapees ploy cover foul play.reflecting changing criminal dockets southern courts half prisoners lease system served sentences property crime.rehabilitation played real role system.whatever onus reform fell shoulders chaplains edward l. ayers relates.warden j.h.bankhead alabama penitentiary observed system better training school criminals dens iniquity exist large cities. |
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